How Wise Factoring helped a specialist engineering company secure a £250,000 invoice finance facility, despite limited trading history and initially needing to fund invoices from a single major customer.
Case Study at a Glance
Sector: Specialist engineering, rotating equipment and industrial labour supply
Facility arranged: £250,000 selective invoice finance
Advance rate: 80% against eligible invoices
Key challenge: Approximately five months’ trading history with 100% initial debtor concentration
Bad debt protection: Included
Outcome: Facility approved and first invoice funded, October 2026
The Challenge: New Contracts, No Cash Flow History
Our client was a newly established specialist engineering company supplying highly skilled personnel for industrial maintenance, rotating equipment, power generation and infrastructure projects, both in the UK and overseas.
Winning contracts was not the problem. Delivering them was creating significant demands on working capital. Mobilising engineers to project sites involved substantial upfront costs, including labour, flights, accommodation and travel expenses, often weeks before customer invoices would be settled.
With approximately five months’ trading history and invoices initially concentrated with a single major customer, the business faced two of the most common barriers to obtaining invoice finance. Many providers are cautious about newly established businesses and high debtor concentration adds a further layer of concern.
The company needed a funder comfortable with all three factors: the limited trading history, the customer concentration and the specialist nature of the work.
How Wise Factoring Helped
The introduction came through a business consultant who had previously worked with Wise Factoring on another challenging funding transaction and recommended our approach.
We assessed the company’s requirements and approached a range of invoice finance providers, focusing on those willing to consider businesses with less than six months’ trading history and high initial debtor concentration.
Rather than focusing solely on the headline facility amount, we paid particular attention to the credit limits lenders were prepared to approve against individual customers. A £250,000 facility would be of limited practical value if the lender would only fund a small proportion of the principal customer’s invoices.
We also worked closely with the director, who was heavily occupied managing engineering operations and new contracts, helping gather the necessary information and ensuring the application was properly prepared before submission.
The Facility: £250,000 with Flexible Customer Funding
After comparing the available options, we identified a specialist funder whose criteria suited the business. The agreed facility included:
- £250,000 funding limit to support growing invoicing requirements
- 80% initial advance against eligible invoices
- 100% debtor concentration permitted during early trading
- Selective invoice finance, allowing the business to choose which customers to include
- Bad debt protection against qualifying customer non-payment
- Professional credit control supporting invoice collection
- Individual customer credit limits of £100,000 approved against several customers
The customer limits operated within the overall £250,000 facility rather than representing additional borrowing on top of it.
The Outcome
The facility was approved, documentation completed and the first eligible invoice funded on 27 October 2026.
A specialist engineering start-up with limited trading history and initial single-debtor concentration now had an operational invoice finance facility providing 80% advances against eligible invoices, meaningful customer credit limits and bad debt protection.
For a company deploying skilled engineers to demanding industrial projects around the world, this created a practical way to bridge the gap between carrying out work and receiving payment.
Can a New Engineering Business Get Invoice Finance?
A limited trading history and high customer concentration do not automatically prevent a business from obtaining invoice finance. Lenders assess a range of factors, including customer quality, the nature of the work, supporting documentation and the proposed facility structure.
For specialist engineering businesses, technical labour suppliers and companies mobilising personnel to major projects, invoice finance can provide a practical alternative to relying on cash reserves or traditional business loans.
At Wise Factoring, we take the time to understand each business, research suitable funding providers and help present applications in a way that gives lenders the information they need.
Need Working Capital for Engineering or Technical Contracts?
If your business has secured new contracts but needs working capital to pay engineers, cover mobilisation costs or support larger projects, Wise Factoring can help you explore the available options.
Call 02921 900 000 or visit www.wisefactoring.co.uk
Case study: October 2026. Client, customer and lender identities withheld for commercial confidentiality. The £250,000 figure represents the agreed facility limit, not the amount initially drawn. All funding is subject to lender assessment, customer approval, verification and facility terms. Bad debt protection is subject to policy conditions.
